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McGhee: Strachan ruled out Scotland return for Sunderland's Fletcher

Scotland assistant Mark McGhee has revealed that manager Gordon Strachan ruled out bringing Steven Fletcher back into the national team fold for upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

The Scots meet Belgium at Hampden Park on Friday and Macedonia in Skopje on Tuesday but did not include the Sunderland striker who has not started a match since damaging ankle ligaments on international duty in March.

"I would like to think that were these two games critical to qualification that Steven Fletcher would have been on the phone to Gordon saying: 'I know I have only played half a game, but I want to come and be part of it'," said McGhee.

"The fact is that he will be bedding himself in a bit more carefully than that. We know how good a player he is and with the retirement of Kenny Miller he is even more important now. But we want the lad back fit and able to contribute from the front, rather than coming off the bench when he is only half fit.

"The manager was not tempted to bring him back, but I was. He ruled it out right away."

About the author

Andrew Slevison is an avid sports fan, particularly of the world game. The Melbourne, Australia native, who has spent time living in London and travelling South America, takes a keen interest in the English Premier League and Major League Soccer and rates his best live footballing moment as the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil.